I thought as results day is fast approaching and I had mine last year and my best friend (kiana) and my boyfriend have theirs this year. My results day is still fresh in my mind. I might as well share how I coped with my results day , UCAS and university.
First of all it was 2 days before my 18th birthday and would either make or break it. So I was either going to drown my sorrows or celebrate. Which added pressure as I would be seeing my friends and if they'd all done well and I hadn't I'd probably end up being a drunken sobbing panda eyed mess.
I woke up at 5:30 AM I naturally couldn't really sleep the night before my results were supposed to be published at 6:30 on my colleges website. So I laid in bed dreaming up all these scenarios (which I don't advise you do). What if I have to go through clearing? What if I get all fails? What if I don't get onto my course? Will I resit the year? Try and ignore these negative thoughts and just imagine you seeing all A*'s on that screen or paper. That doesn't work for me so use a saying I live by "Hope for the best but prepare yourself for the worst." Hope for A*'s but be realistic and seriously think about clearing and other options just in case.
I logged on at 6:30 to find the page had crashed and no one could get their results. So I sat and spammed the refresh button for legit half an hour until at like 7:10 ish the results came up. I was shaking with excitement and fear. I glanced at the screen a bunch of words and numbers blurred together. I just wanted to see my grades not any crappy break downs, so I got my parents to look before me. They didn't understand it so I looked again. I'd gotten a ABC like the Jackson 5 song. C in drama and theatre studies a B in fine art and an A in English language and literature combined. I was gutted about the C and couldn't log onto UCAS until 8AM so was crapping myself thinking I'd not be able to get onto my course. With it being Drama &Theatre studies and English Literature I needed a B to get in. However, after re-reading my admittance letter again I needed 300 UCAS points and had ended up with more than needed to get in to my first choice. As you can imagine I was over the moon and didn't have to go to clearing.
Even my 2nd choice had accepted me and they needed a firm B in drama. University well some, are very lenient on results compared to your offers. I know mine were, so it's not the be all and end all if you don't get what you've been predicted or need.
There's resists you can resit the year or just the exams and study by yourself and re-apply in September again like some of my friends had to do. If you're determined to get onto that course at that university it's so worth doing this. But if you were one mark off an A* in one exam don't bother. However, you could re-apply to more realistic universities and rewrite your personal statement to really stand out or make your audition/portfolio/ interview perfect seeing as you've been through it before you know how it works and have far more experience.
Also clearing where you can look at the places left on university courses, a lot of my friends at university came into it through clearing and love it more than they would've at the ones they applied to. Obviously speak to someone on the UCAS clearing helplines people who are experienced and trained to help you are the best to talk to. There's a lot of places out there for a lot of interesting courses, just think carefully about your choices and don't jumps into a course that isn't what you're looking for originally. Compare course specifications and descriptions with the unis you wanted to go to and see the similarities and differences. Be prepared to change your uni's locations and look at different cities. Just because it wasn't your first choice or what you wanted doesn't mean its the wrong one.
And the gap year option where you can travel or work for a year like my friends and simply re-apply to different and more realistic universities. Rather than russel group look at metropolitan it doesn't matter what uni you go to so long as you love your course and what you're learning. Forget league tables. You'll be given unconditional offers as you already have your results so no waiting for august. Just be careful you don't end up getting stuck in a job because it's comfortable and you think the moneys good. Remember why you wanted to go to university in the first place to better yourself and future employment possibilities.
If you do end up at the university you wanted or through clearing or a gap year just remember your A level results are in the past. You might have gotten E's and a U or all A*'s it doesn't matter. Take your first assignment results with a pinch of salt and enjoy your new experience. I got a C in drama at A level and finished on a 1st this year in both subjects. The past results don't effect the now once you're at university. So get drunk, read a lot and enjoy your freshers.
Hope this helps and good luck guys!
Bekka
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